Tennis-racket.



J15. UURLEY.

TENNIS RACKBT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, 1914.

1,094,705. Patent d 12 1138, 1914;.

IN E IV 70/? A TTOR/VE V Tennis-enema".

Specification of Eetters Eetent.

rates-teas r. as, rare.

Application filed January e; ieiui. star-a no. emcee.

Be it known that LJos'E H J. Gunner, a citizen of the l nited States ofAmerica, and a resident of New York, N. Y., have inventcd certain newand useful Improvements in Tennis-Rackets, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part thereof.

v imilar articles comprising a strip bent to the shape required, a andleby which the device is manipulated, and a. net of woven gut strings.

Rackets as hitherto constructed are liable to become warped in servicedue to variable weather conditions or other causes, and cumbersomepresses have been employed by all users of high grade rackets.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a simple and effectivemeans for preventing the racket from becoming warped. and forstrengthening the how without detracting from its resiliency or addingto its weight.

A further object is to provide a suitable means that shall fulfil theabove-mentioned conditions, and that shall at the same time he tough andimpervious to moisture, and possess many of the characteristics of Wood.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will he set forthhereinafter, and in order that my invention may he thoroughlyunderstood. I will now proceed to describe the same in the followingspecification and then point out the novel features thereof in' appendedclaims.

Jllet'erring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a tennisracket embodying my invention. A portion of the racket is shown on alarger scale in Fig. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on the line 3-3 orFin. 1.

The racket shown comprises a bow 10 of usual shape. a handle 20, and anet 30. The how 10 comprises a strip 11 of Wood Which is bent to therequired shape and the ends of which extend into and form a part of thehandle. a reinforcing strip 12 of relatively thin bakelite or bakclizedmaterial, and an outer strip 13 of wood. The strip of bakelite is equalin width to the thickness of the how and extends from the neck of therocket at let completely around the bow to the opposite side. Thismaterial is not only moisture proof but is very tough and has no gflnc dtogether so that they have the appear e of a single strip except for thedifl'erence in color between the hakelite and the wood. This contrastmay be such as to very iu'y invention relates to tennis rackets and ofwood' materially improve the appearance of the racket.

A throat piece 15 is set between the shoul ders in the usual way. Itsouter surface is conca e shown in Fig. 1 and a strip 16 of bakeliteextends completely over its curved surface and onto the bow for aInatcrial distance on either side. This strip coiiperates with the strip12 in preventing ner and need not .he described in detail..

The how is provided with holes and is strung in the usual Way. I

I am aware that the use of metal wires or metal pieces has beensuggested for the purpose of reinforcing tennis rackets out metal isparticularly disadvantageous because it adds materially to the weight ofthe racket, provided the size of the reinforcement and the metal ofwhich it is formed. are such as to he of any value in respect topreventing war-"ping. Furthermore, the metal cannot be joined to thewood in such away as to render the article serviceable under varyingweather conditions. There is still another very important reason whymetal cannotbe utilized successfully in a. tennis racket, thatresiliency which is found in wood and even a small amount of metal makesa racket absolutely worthless. On the other hand, hakelite possessesmany or" the properties of which wood is inherently characteristic. Atthe same time it possesses unique character istics which render itparticularly adapted for the purpose to which it is applied in thecarrying out of my invention,for example. it is not only water-proof inthe ordinary sense of the Word, but is absolutely impervious tomoisture. It will not Warp and has a marked rigidity Which is dependedupon for holding the bow of the racket in position.

By hakelite or bakelized material I refer 59s is, the fact that no metalhas the life and

